HOUSE....No. 80 . 


eromniontoealtlj of JHafissacijusetts. 


House of Representatives, Feb. 15, 1855. 

The Committee on regulating hours of labor in incorporated 
establishments, to whom was referred the Petition of Joseph 
Morrill and others, for an act restricting the hours of labor 
in incorporated establishments to ten hours per day, have 
considered the same, and submit the following 

REPORT 

and Bill:— 

Your committee, who were instructed to take into con¬ 
sideration the subject of regulating the hours of labor in incor¬ 
porated establishments, beg leave to present a few facts to the 
Honorable Senate and House of Representatives, showing 
reasons why. in their judgment, the number of hours of labor 
in said establishments should be reduced by law to ten hours 
per day, or sixty hours per week. 

We believe that the time has arrived when every friend of 
human advancement should calmly and deliberately consider 
the evil tendencies of our present system of manufacturing. 

Wherever the question of a decrease of the number of the 
hours of labor has received proper investigation, it has been 






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2 HOURS OF LABOR. [Feb. 

followed by a strong desire on the part of the operatives of all 
classes to meet and investigate the evil so far as possible. 

Ever since the first introduction of cotton and woollen mills 
into this country, the hours of labor have been excessive. 
Eleven, twelve, twelve and a half and thirteen hours have been, 
and still are, the number of hours which the operatives are 
obliged to labor. „^four committee are well aware of the fact 
that a large proportion of the operatives work but eleven hours 
per day at the present time ; yet at the present time there may 
be a disposition on the part of some of the mills to return to 
the old system. To prevent this, and to further protect the 
rights of the laboring classes, petitions have from time to time 
been presented to this honorable body, praying for a “ law ” to 
the effect that the hours of labor shall be reduced to ten hours 
per day. The ** competition ” of other countries has been 
used as an argument in opposition to such a reduction; but 
now this argument is without force. In very many of the 
manufacturing countries in the old world, a reduction in the 
hours of labor has already taken place. England has almost 
universally adopted the ten-hour plan ; and if report is correct, 
the kingdom of Prussia, the Swiss Confederation and several 
of the German States have followed the example^ 

In our own country, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, 
Maryland and many other States have wholly, or in part, 
adopted the same plan ; so that to-day the cry of competition 
is of ho avail. 

The question is occupying the minds of the great and the 
good of the present day ; and the result of their investigations 
has already, as before remarked, accomplished much good in 
many places. 

In England the question was discussed pro and con , by in¬ 
terested and disinterested men, for years; objections were 
raised and answered until the truth could be concealed no 
longer; and finally the legislature of Great Britain granted the 
prayer of its oppressed operatives. 

And now, at this late day, we ask the legislature of old 
Massachusetts to pause and look for a moment at the interests 
of her own sons and daughters. It has been our boast that, as 
a State, we stand first and foremost in every good word and 


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HOUSE—No. 80. 


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1855.] 


v work; yet, even while we boast, our men, women and chil¬ 
dren have been confined to almost incessant toil. From morning 
D until night, day in and day out, week after week, month after 
month, year in and year out, they have toiled on. 

Legislation has been had to protect the capitalist, resolves 
have been presented and passed in favor of the slave of the 
south, the great and good men of the day have spent their ener¬ 
gies in the black man’s behalf; and while we would not 
complain of this action on the part of this honorable body, yet 
we beg to submit to your consideration the fact that past legis¬ 
latures have allowed the men who raised them to stations of 
trust and emolument to remain almost forgotten, and they have 
been compelled to toil on, unnoticed, uncared for, by those in 
power, with a few honorable exceptions—remembered only 
when their vote was necessary to the office holder’s welfare. 
Spring, summer, autumn and winter are all alike to them, each 
bringing with it the same eternal round of unmitigated toil. 

And now they appeal to this honorable body again, knowing 
that you have the power to ameliorate their condition; and 
knowing that this legislature is made up of men whose inter¬ 
ests are the same as their own, they appeal to us with a degree 
of hope amounting almost to a certainty. 

/4fn argument is presented in favor of a long-hour system, by 
some, from the fact that in most factories there are some who 
are willing to work from daylight until dark the year round. 

The experience of those who have been engaged in manu¬ 
facturing is, that all such persons are gifted with very narrow 
conceptions of the good and noble, and are possessed of but one 
idea—which idea is derived from, and centred in, the almighty 
dollar—taking no interest in the great movements of the day 
or in the maintenance of our glorious institutions; while, on 
the other hand, those who ask that the number of hours 
of labor may be reduced to ten hours per day are those who 
not only feel, but manifest, a deep interest in the welfare of 
oJ our country, in the education of our children, in the support 
of our churches and in the perpetuity of those glorious insti¬ 
tutions and great blessings bequeathed to us by our fathers— 
intelligent men and women, who ask for time to attend to their 
intellectual pursuits, time to gather food for their minds, in 


4 


HOURS OF LABOR. 


[Feb. 


order that they may be worthy children of patriotic sires. 
There is another fact to which we would call the attention of 
this honorable body. 

If the large manufacturing companys reduce their hours of 
labor, all the smaller corporations immediately follow their 
example. The reason for this is found in the fact that the 
most intelligent portion of the operatives invariably seek em¬ 
ployment at such places as run their machinery the least num¬ 
ber of hours; and as the intelligent operative is the most 
profitable to the company, hence the fact, if the smaller corpo¬ 
rations wish to retain their good help, they must conform to 
the same rules adopted by the larger ones. 

This fact, which has been proved by repeated experiments, 
is a strong argument in favor of the short-hour system, show¬ 
ing at once that, if the masses are consulted in regard to their 
wishes, the ten-hour law will be immediately placed upon the 
statute book ; and as the laboring classes are the people , we 
feel that their request should be granted without delay. 

Another objection has been made to the short-hour system : 
which is, that the wages of the operatives would be reduced. 
This has not always proved to be the case, although in some 
cases it may have been; yet, admitting such to be the result 
in all cases, still we find that the operatives, fully understand¬ 
ing what the result will be, continue to ask for a reduction in 
the hours of labor—thus showing that they are willing to 
bear their portion of the pecuniary burden, if in return they 
can receive a corresponding amount of leisure time which they 
can devote to other pursuits. 

There is one other objection used by the manufacturer in 
opposition to this measure ; which is, that there would follow 
a reduction of the hours of labor a corresponding diminution 
in the amount of production. 

This we believe to be fallacious. Such an assumption is 
not only contrary to our own experience, but it is at variance 
with the opinions of some of the most intelligent manufac¬ 
turers in this and other countries. But these are not the only 
arguments in favor of the short system: we feel that there are 
others of as great, if not greater, importance. 

The head of a family wishes time to attend to his house- 


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1855.] 


HOUSE—No. 80. 


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hold duties—time to store his mind with knowledge, in order 
that he may train up his children in the path of rectitude—to 
instil into their minds a love for the land that gave them 
birth, and thus prepare them to receive and perpetuate those 
great institutions which we enjoy. 

The young woman needs time to be trained in other duties 
than those of spinning and weaving: they are to be the 
mothers of the coming generation. Much is said of the bad 
effects of fashion upon young women, and they are advised by 
the journals of the day to leave the piano, throw French and 
German out of the window, and to. turn their attention to the 
spinning wheel and loom ; but we submit for the considera¬ 
tion of this honorable body the fact that, where one young 
woman is disqualified for her proper sphere in life by a piano, 
by French or German, a hundred are rendered unfit for the 
duties which await them in life by a too close application to 
this same spinning wheel and loom. 

In regard to the children who are employed in these mills, 
your committee deem it useless to say any thing in their behalf, 
believing that each and every one will perceive at a glance 
that a child from ten to sixteen years of age ought not to be 
confined to any labor for so long a duration of time. Medical 
men unite with one voice in pronouncing it an incalculable 
injury; to both mind and body, and your committee ask the 
gentlemen composing this honorable body to take into candid 
consideration the above facts; and, as the result of our careful 
deliberations, we beg leave to submit the following Bill. 

AUGUSTUS C. CAREY, Chairman. 

BAKER, of Middlesex, 

• LIBBY, of Suffolk, 

| Senate. 

CAREY, of Ipswich, 

CHANDLER, of Duxbury, 
CLIFFORD, of Lowell, 
BOYNTON, of Westboro’, 

ELLIS, of New Bedford, 

House. 


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HOURS OF LABOR. 


[Feb. 


©ommoutoeaWfj of JWas®; utymtUx. 


In tlie Year One Thousand Eight Hundred and Fifty- 

Five. 


AN ACT 

Concerning the Hours of Labor in Incorporated Estab¬ 
lishments. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa¬ 
tives in General Court assembled , and by the authority of 
the same , as folloivs :— 

1 Sect. 1. From and after the first day of July, in 

2 the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, no 

3 person shall be employed in laboring by, or for, any 

4 company incorporated by or under the laws of this 

5 Commonwealth, more than ten hours in any one day, 

6 except in the cases provided for in the second section 

7 of this act. 

1 Sect. 2. There shall be excepted from the fore- 

2 going provision of this act the following cases, to wit: 




1855.] 


HOUSE—No. 80. 


3 The employment of persons in the running of rail- 

4 road trains, the employment of persons in making 

5 repairs necessary to prevent the stoppage or inter- 

6 ruption of the ordinary running of engines, mills, 

7 machinery or railroad trains, and the employment of 

8 persons in doing labor of charity or necessity. 

1 Sect. 3. Any company incorporated by or under 

2 the laws of this Commonwealth which shall employ 

3 any person, or have in its employment any person, con- 

4 trary to the provisions of this act, and also any agent, 

5 superintendent, overseer, or other employee of any 

6 corporation who shall employ any person in laboring 

7 for any such corporation contrary to the provisions 

8 of this act, shall, for each and every offence, forfeit to 

9 the use of the person prosecuting the sum of fifty 

10 dollars, to be recovered in any court competent to try 

11 the same. 








